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Managing Director

Work Experience

Schlumberger Wireline Services Inc.
Logging Engineer(1969-1975) Brazil, Peru
Operations Manager(1975-1979) Brazil
Computing Centre Manager(1979-1982) Venezuela, U.K.
District Manager(1982-1983) Norway

Gearhart Industries Inc.
Division Manager(1984-1987) Brazil
Region Manager (1987-1989) UK

Halliburton Energy Services Inc.
Division Manager(1989-1992) UK, USA
Director of HSE (1992-1994) USA

Thermacor Process Inc.
President(1994-1996) USA

Appalachia Limited
Managing Director(1996-2001) UK

Zumax Nigeria Limited
Managing Director(2001-2003) Nigeria

Education

Qualifications
Strathclyde University (1966-1969) BSC (Hons) Electrical Engineering
Strathclyde University (1983-1984) MBA Business Administration

Skills

General Management
Planning and Budgeting
Financial Analysis and Control
Procurement of Materials
Contract Negotiations
Personnel Recruitment
Sales and Marketing
Business Development
HSE Management
Disposal of Waste Materials
Pollution Testing
Environmental Audits
Safety Audits
Waste Water Recycling
Pollution Clean-up Methods
Pipeline Project Management
Pipeline Fabrication and Coatings
Pipeline Welding Techniques
Heat-Tracing Techniques
Pipe Insulation Operations
Plant Safety
Project Team Leadership
Risk Assessment and Analysis
Project Planning
Logistics Planning
Lift Boat Operations Management
Marine Maintenance Management
Wire-line Operations Management
Wire-line Production Tool Sales

Languages

English
Portuguese
Spanish.

Other

African Management Services Company B.V. (2001 to 2003)

In July 2001, I accepted a 3-year contract African Management Services Company B.V. a management and training services company. Amsco B.V. is owned by a broad partnership of development banks led by the UNDP and the World Bank Group, and formed to address the development of management capacity in privately-owned companies in Africa. Since 1989 Amsco B.V. has seconded over 750 temporary managers in 28 countries. I was seconded to Zumax Nigeria Limited (Zumax) as a temporary MD/CEO, reporting directly to the Board of Directors. Zumax is a wholly-owned Nigerian company providing production services in the oilfield service industry. Revenue-generating assets include five lift barges, six skid-mounted wire-line units, three wire-line trucks, two mast trucks, and several high pressure pumps, and other auxiliary equipment and vehicles. The company had successfully competed against national and international competitors such as Halliburton, Danos & Curole, and Dowell Schlumberger. Profits had been poor in recent years and the Naira bank debt had grown to over N500 Million (US$3.5 million) due to a lack of financial controls. Most of the equipment was old when it was acquired and would soon become unacceptable to customers for several reasons. Lift barge downtime had cost the company US$1.5 million in lost revenues in the two years prior to 2001. The workforce of 220 employees was relatively untrained and twice the size needed for the present level of activity. Control of materials purchasing was open to fraud and pilfering.

Cost control measures were established beginning with the voluntary redundancy of 70 casual workers. A new materials purchasing system was introduced requiring MD/CEO approval. The number of approved vendors was reduced to 50. A system of market price research was introduced to reduce the risk of price-fixing and fraud. Preventive maintenance programmes were established for all types of equipment including a quick response system for the lift barges to limit downtime. Three of the five lift barges had to be completely refurbished. These measures resulted in zero downtime in 2002. A training program was established. Every worker was given a job description and a personal training plan. Recently training began on a Quality Management System (QHSE-MS). A series of workshops were given to the managers based on the ISO 9001:2000 model for Quality Improvement. Revenues and profits increased substantially as a result of these improvements. Unfortunately civil unrest in the swamps intervened and oilfield operations in the swamps had to be shut-down in April 2003. Revenues stopped as a consequence. The situation was soon aggravated by a board room tussle between the owners over the disposition of retained profits. The company was shut down and the Amsco contract was terminated in December 2003. Nobody knows when operations will recommence.

Skills Acquired:

Lift Boat Operations Management
Marine Maintenance Management
Wire-line Operations Management
Wire-line Production Tool Sales

Achievements:
Revenue increased from US$5.2M in 2001 to US$6.0M in 2002.
Profits of US$3.5 M in the period July 2001 to December 2002.
Training Program for all employees
Zero vessel downtime in 2002.
Creation of the Zumax QHSE-MS

Appalachia Limited (1996 to 2001)

In 1996, I returned to the UK to start my own business, which I ran in partnership with my wife. Appalachia provides home decoration items from catalogues on the internet. My wife now runs the business by herself.

British Steel Tubular Division ( May-Nov 1998)

In May 1998, I accepted a six-month contract with British Steel (Tubular Division) at Corby to work on a pipeline project team. The project was a £20M offshore pipeline known as the Amoco Kings Project in the Gulf of Mexico. The scope of work was the fabrication of 200 miles of offshore pipelines with sections of thermally-insulated pipe-in-pipe systems. British Steel planned to supply the steel pipe from their factory at Corby and ship it to a purpose-built fabrication yard in Louisiana. Each fabricated unit (hex-joint) made up of six joints of pipe welded together and coated would weigh 12 and 20 tons depending on the specification and be 250 ft long. Fabricated hex-joints were to be stored on location and a special gantry crane had to be designed to handle the storage on site and the off-loading onto flat barges. The logistics required 100 barge trips, each precisely coordinated with the lay-barge operation offshore. The project would have taken one year to complete.

A team of British Steel engineers was designated to prepare a feasibility study for approval by the Board of Directors and prepare the bid. Since they had no experience of this kind of project, my job was to mentor the project team and do a risk assessment. The feasibility study was completed and put before the Board in July. The go-ahead was given for the bid preparation. The bid had to be delivered to Amoco by November. I was asked to help in the bid preparation. My experience in Thermacor was useful to identify suitable sites for the fabrication plant, to find suppliers of coatings, welding, labour, and prepare the logistics plan. My HSE experience was used to prepare an HSE plan to meet the project specifications, and comply with Federal and State regulations. By November 1998, the project planning and bid preparation were completed and submitted to Amoco. My job was finished. There was a possibility of being involved in the project if it was won by British Steel, but unfortunately the whole Kings Project was put on hold because of the BP takeover. The Kings Project was eventually shelved by BP.

Skills Acquired:

Project Team Leadership
Risk Assessment and Analysis
Project Planning
Logistics Planning

Achievements:

Risk Assessment on the Kings Project
Feasibility Study for the Kings Project
Identification of fabrication sites in Louisiana.
Costing of the Kings Project
Development of the HSE and Logistics Plans




Thermacor Process Inc. (1994 to 1996).

In 1994, I left Halliburton to join Thermacor Process Inc. as president of the company. Thermacor was a medium-sized engineering company specialized in the manufacture and installation of pre-insulated underground piping systems. They had a turnover of about US$ 15 million per year and employed a workforce of 150 people. The company had been in business for 20 years in the HVAC (Heating, Ventillation, and Air-Conditioning) sector of the construction industry. Thermacor had growth problems that needed solving. Product sales was handled by a network of independent manufacturer’s representatives and the customers were mostly mechanical contractors working for large institutional customers such as prison boards, school boards, private hospitals, and government agencies. Revenues suffered from seasonal swings caused by severe winters in the northern states when trenches are difficult to excavate.

Thermacor had to find new customers and expand its product range. The oil & gas and chemical industries were obvious targets, but new products would have to be designed to meet the more stringent standards in those industries. The QA/QC Management System was limited and would have to be upgraded to comply with ANSI/ASQC Q91 the USA equivalent of ISO9001. I convinced the owner to purchase and install a fully-computerized Integrated Management System within the company to improve productivity and reduce waste. The IMS software package included integrated modules for sales quotations, purchasing, inventory control, manufacturing schedules, accounting, and waste material control reporting to the EPA.

Thermacor tendered for oil and gas pipeline projects and won an electrically heat-traced insulated pipe-in-pipe system for Texaco’s oil refinery in Galveston. In 1995, we won the contract for an underground hot and cold water system in a large residential complex in the Bronx, New York worth about US$10 million. The new system was designed to replace an old steam system operating at 240 deg F. The Warranty requirement was for 25 years. Thermacor chose a steel pipe high-density polyethelene jacketed system insulated with polyurethene. At the end of my two-year contract with Thermacor, the manufacturing plant was at full capacity, and fully compliant with all relevant Federal and State regulations. We expected the 1996 turnover to reach US$20 Million.

Skills Acquired:

Pipeline Project Management
Pipeline Fabrication and Coatings
Pipeline Welding Techniques
Heat-Tracing Methods
Pipe Insulation Methods
Plant Safety

Achievements:
Revenue increased to US$20 million per year.
Won the largest contract ever handled.
Entered the oil & gas and chemical industries
Reduced seasonal revenue swings.
Established new QHSE systems
Installed IMS (Integrated Management System)


Halliburton Energy Services Group (1992 to 1994)

In 1992 the Halliburton Energy Services Group (HESG) was a US$ 3 billion per year oilfield service conglomerate made up of 10 oilfield service and engineering companies, employing 70,000 people in over 100 countries. I became the Director for HSE reporting directly to the Chairman. His challenge to me was to establish a new set of HSE policies and procedures that would be consistent throughout HESG. I was asked to gather all the HSE knowledge and skill accumulated over the years into one package and disseminate it to the operations managers worldwide. It was a daunting prospect requiring the creation of a completely new package of reference documentation and the organization of training conferences on a worldwide basis. I brought together a working group of HSE specialists mostly from Halliburton Services and Otis Engineering and in three months we established new policies, transcribed all the existing standard operating procedures, designed and printed an HSE handbook, and produced all the presentation products. We decided on a pocket-sized handbook that could be easily carried for reference in the field. Later we planned to issue the handbook on CD. In the first draft we printed five thousand copies and distributed them worldwide. We organized three regional conferences and trained 200 operations managers from the different companies.
My other responsibilities included managing the HSE Department in Duncan Oklahoma, a group of about 50 industrial chemists, environmental engineers, safety specialists, and industrial hygienists. The group was responsible for all of HESG’s on-going HSE projects including the disposal of waste materials (old tyres, oils, lithium batteries, paint barrels, hazardous chemicals), running the paint barrel crushing plant in Duncan, the underground fuel tank removal program, the monitoring of four EPA controlled industrial clean-up sites, and the construction of water-recycling wash bays for operations bases. They were also responsible for environmental and safety audits in all the HESG manufacturing sites, and field locations in the USA. During the two years I was HSE Director our department completed about 20 environmental audits in manufacturing plants in the USA and Europe. We also worked on field location clean-up projects and carried out about 100 field location HSE audits. I also participated in Halliburton Company HSE efforts as the representative of HESG on a planning group set up by the Legal and HSE departments of HESG and Brown & Root under the chairmanship of a Senior Vice President to discuss and take action on EPA regulations. We also produced an HSE brochure for shareholders.
Skills Acquired:
HSE Management
Disposal of Waste Materials
Pollution Testing
Environmental Audits
Safety Audits
Waste Water Recycling
Pollution Clean-up Methods

Achievements:
Developed new HSE policies for HESG.
Produced the HSE Handbook for field use.
Developed and produced HSE training documentation.
Trained over 200 managers on HSE polices and procedures.
Made presentations to promote HESG compliance efforts.
Produced an HSE brochure for shareholders.

Halliburton Logging Services Inc. (1989 to 1992)

After the takeover of Gearhart Industries by Halliburton in 1989, I was retained as the General Manager for Europe and Africa for the newly formed Halliburton Logging Services (HLS). Halliburton owned Welex an electrical logging company called about the same size as Gearhart. The technologies were completely incompatible. This however caused few problems in Europe and Africa because the two companies did not compete in the same markets. The Europe & Africa Division had operations in 10 countries and a turnover of $50M p.a., but it was unprofitable in some countries. I had to close-down loss-making operations in Holland, Italy and Libya. My strategy was to introduce the new generation equipment into the North Sea and release the ex-Gearhart equipment and personnel for operations in West Africa. HLS replaced Schlumberger in Cabinda for Chevron in 1990. In July 1991 I was transferred to the USA to head the US Western Division. The Western Division had operations in the Rockies, California, Alaska, and Canada. The oil industry in the USA was in decline. For a year I tried to maintain the business but without success. The nature of the oil industry in the USA with hundreds of small oil companies makes that market volatile to the price of oil which was dropping at that time. HLS had to reduce to three Divisions to reduce costs. Senior management decided to close the Western Division office in Denver and I was transferred to Houston.

Gearhart Industries Inc. (1984 to 1989)

I joined Gearhart in 1984, a competitor of Schlumberger, as General Manager for Brazil, based in Rio de Janeiro. Although not completely removed from operations, this job allowed me to develop my general management skills. I was soon involved in contract negotiations with Petrobras and in 1985 won a significant offshore contract for Gearhart in Macae. This was the first offshore contract for Gearhart in Brazil. We imported five offshore logging skids with down-hole tools and put them to work. Annual revenues increased from US$10 million in 1984 to US$18 million in 1986. I recruited several Brazilian engineering graduates from the best universities and trained them as logging engineers. I budgeted for and built a new operations base and camp in Macae and a complete truck refurbishment plant in Aracaju. In 1987 I was promoted to Region Manager for Europe and West Africa and transferred to London. Gearhart had well-established operations in the UK, France, Spain, and Nigeria. By 1989 I had established two new operations for Shell in Gabon and Chevron in Congo.

Skills Acquired:
General Management
Planning and Budgeting
Financial Analysis and Control
Procurement of Materials
Contract Negotiations
Personnel Recruitment
Sales and Marketing
Business Development

Achievements:
New contracts for Gearhart in Brazil, Gabon, and Congo.
A new base and camp in Macae, Brazil.
A truck refurbishment base in Aracaju, Brazil.
Successfully merged Gearhart and Welex Operations
New contract for HLS in Angola

Schlumberger Wireline Services ( 1969 to 1983)

After graduation in 1969 with a BSC in Electrical Engineering, I began my career working as an electrical logging engineer for Schlumberger one of the largest oilfield service companies. Logging companies use electronic tools lowered on an electrical cable into the well-bore to measure petro-physical data of the formations after the drilling process. They also provide completion and production services. The equipment and software are usually proprietary. I was trained in the full range of Schlumberger open-hole, cased-hole and production services, the use of explosives, radioactive sources, and safety procedures. The first six years were spent working as a logging engineer in Brazil and Peru where I gained valuable experience of oilfield operations on land, jungle, and offshore and was promoted to General Field Engineer.

Skills Acquired:
Open Hole Logging Services
Cased-Hole Logging Services
Production Logging Services
Wireline Fishing
Casing Perforating
Log Interpretation
Explosives Safety
Radioactive Safety
Land, Jungle, and Offshore Operations

After two years working on wildcat wells in the Amazon jungle, I was transferred back to Brazil and promoted to Operations Manager. This was my first opportunity to show leadership skills as well as technical abilities. Operations managers in Schlumberger are not only expected to be experts in logging operations. They must also learn to make sales calls and presentations to customers, and provide training for engineers and operators. Promotion followed quickly to higher operational management positions including three years as the manager of a Field Log Interpretation Centre. When I left Schlumberger in 1983 I was the District Manager in Bergen Norway responsible for a US$30 million per year operation with 75 engineers and operators.

Skills Acquired:

Operations Management
Sales Presentations
Training
Materials Ordering
Budgeting and Forecasting
Motivation of Personnel
Open-Hole Log Interpretation
Cased-Hole Log Interpretation
Production Log Interpretation
Dipmeter Interpretation
Vertical Seismic Interpretation

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